School's Out

School's out and summer is almost here to enjoy! Once again, I've been absent for awhile as spring chores/projects and good weather for the most part have allowed me to spend most of my time outdoors. Chores have been moving sheep between pasture paddocks and hauling water, whacking thistles, mowing, etc. Schools out for the lambs this week as well as they will be weaned and on their own for awhile. The garden is in and I've been keeping up with the weeding so far in spite of the rain. Projects have included putting in patio block walkways. I've started Saturday Farmer's Market as part of Experience Historic East Troy on the square. This is a new time and venue in a way so will see how it goes. Hope to add some more direct market customers as the season goes along. So far the lamb gyro patties are the most popular.

We have had a month of birthdays including Rachel's 10th. Rachel's Rabbitry has been busy with 3 foster baby Mini Rex rabbits and hope to get some little thriving buns of our own this week.

I found out also why Indian Runner Ducks are called Runners because they run away from home. We lost all of our adult (7)Runner Ducks BUT have 2 eggs incubating that we hope will hatch.

Last week was another Tex & I adventure as we have secured his future by collecting the stud dog. His boys are frozen and stored at the International Canine Semen Bank which is about an hour and a half away. He turned out to be a Super Stud as he performed like a 90 lb. dog so I was wishing he was like the goose who lays the golden eggs! He always seems to give better than what I expect. One of his recent pleasant suprises was coming back Normal on his DM (Degenerative Myopathy) test so his pups should have a life without PRA, DM, or dysplastic hips.

With the green grass and misty rain this eve. it feels a bit like jolly ole' England so decided to post a bit of the flock on the green (photo taken last month)!

Enjoy the Upcoming Summer!

Easter Bunnies & Lambs!

Happy Easter to Everyone from a few of our resident Bunnies, aka Rachel's Rabbitry.

The Mini Lop is Samantha, our litterbox trained adoptee and the most photogenic! Thankful, she knows the difference between an Easter basket and her litterbox. Next, are our Mini Rex does: Beauty the Black Otter, and Lesley the Black Broken. Not pictured are Mini Rex bucks, Buddy & CJ, both Black Otters; and Rachel's Holland Lop's Cupcake, a broken Tort doe and Cupid, a Tort buck. Rachel is showing all but Samatha and Buddy.

I also want to share a first for our flock: What is looking to be a black fleeced Clun Forest ewe lamb. Guess, what I have named her? Clue is in the above paragraph. That is Rachel holding her still for a moment. The lamb has a twin sister (white fleece and medium brown face & legs) and in fact her aunt produced a natural colored fleeced Mule ewe lamb last year.

LOL: Lots of _ _ _ _ lambs!

The flock started lambing 2 weeks ago and we have had 87 lambs born (a couple of twins were DOA) but lots of bouncy thriving lambs. It has gone smoothly and I am down to the last 8 ewes (7 of these will go in the next few days and then we will wait until around April 9 for the last.

As promised I am now posting photos of my Bluefaced Leicester ram "Beechtree Glen Roth" (sire of this year's Mule lambs), and Muleflock 18 Red (1/2 British Suffolk ram) "Sully". We refer to Sully's lambs as Sullicopters (see photo above of one of his lambs---ready for take-off!).

Will try to update more often and share farm/flock/family news.

Ready for Spring, Ready for Lambs!

I've been basically winter hibernating the last few weeks from my blog. The days are getting longer and warmer with some thawing days so we are readying for lambs and spring. I am getting my barn cleaned out and setup this week. I thought I'd preview what we are expecting:

If my numbers are right I should have 39 Clun Forest ewes bred pure. 10 Clun Forest ewes bred to the Bluefaced Leicester ram "Beechtree Glen Roth" for Mule lambs (was hoping for about 15 ewes but the cleanup ram got some of his). 6 Clun Mule ewes should be bred to "Sully", the 1/2 British Suffolk ram lamb acquired last fall from Mark Lelli for our 1st terminally sired bred market lambs.

For the purebred Clun Forest I used two main sires (photo attached). Prairie SAN S32 pictured left (F1 son of Netherlands SAN 125) and Prairie FAF R4 (F1 son of Netherlands FAF 025). Sure was nice of them to pose next to each other for a photo!
I used a Cleanup Clun ram Prairie FAF R7, a half-brother to R4.

I will get photos soon of Glen Roth and Sully. The action should start happening around March 14 and I will have a busy 3 weeks.

Life, Death, and Taxes

With a title of life, death, and taxes how can I say Happy New Year! But it is my first post of 2010 and the title seems fitting. The New Year brings thoughts of all the good things to expect in the coming year from life. Death, well the last of the last year's lambs went to market this month. Taxes, besides paying them I have taken on the responsibilty of collecting them for our Township last month (another interesting event/long story since I've becomed involved in civic life). It feels good to be in the home stretch of the unplanned add-on and it has been a positive for me. I am starting to look forward to the planning of the next couple of months and the start of lambing, so..... more life and the cycle continues.
Since it is still January I will wish all a Happy New Year!
Michele

A Christmas Story from the Farm

This Christmas story begins with a red hen Rachel has named Mary. Mary in fact is our only laying hen right now while we wait on the young chickens to mature. Before the last storm we moved Mary into the barn where she is free range. We just found her nest and where she has been laying her eggs. Rachel has been collecting the eggs. As she collected yesterday she says "I hope Mary lays a Christmas egg." I say why. "So we can have Jesus." It would have to be the immaculate chicken conception since the roosters are penned away from Mary but I did not get into that.
Wishing all a Merry Christmas!
Michele

Shepherd Abuse

It is a fact of life if you are your own shepherd or if you farm you will have the bumps and bruises to show you do some physical labor for a living. Summertime I really should stick to wearing long pants to cover the usual bruise or two I am sporting on my legs. These usually come from catching, weighing, vaccinating, deworming, or tattooing lambs that sometimes catch me with a kicking hoof. This past week with the snowstorm we got about a foot of wet heavy snow. Before the storm came I moved the ram group and pony into the barnyard so they would have some shelter. Once the storm passed, freezing below zero temps were on the way so I worked to clear the snow that accumulated around the livestock gates with a shovel before it froze so I'd be able to open the gates again to get the animals back out to pasture when the time came. I shoveled most of one gate and then pulled on it against the snow to see how much farther to shovel and wham the 16 ft. gate came off the hinge, hit me in the head right above my right eye, and down I went with the gate on top of me. Got back up and tried to put the gate back on the hinges but needed help to line it up. I have a black eye from the ordeal (actually a deep purple that looks like permanent eye shadow). I've had this colorful eye now for a few days and of course people make comments like "I'd like to see the other guy." At least I do live in a rural community so most people do believe my story (I think!). Some people don't ask and just look and you wonder what they are thinking happened. I've decided I'd just like to simply reply "shepherd abuse."